Pain. Agonizing, soul-tearing pain.
At this moment, Hel felt like his heart was being crushed—literally.
And in reality, that wasn't far off. In the dim, dank dungeon, Hel curled up like a roasted shrimp, shaking in agony.
Sitting beside him, Youming (the Death Witch) wore a twisted smile, her face glowing with a disturbing sense of delight as she watched him suffer.
In her hand, she clutched a semi-transparent, phantom-like heart.
[High-tier Death Spell: Heart Grasp]
"Hahahahaha, that expression is just too adorable. But what a shame—you've held out this long and still haven't screamed. Kind of a mood killer."
As she spoke, she tightened her grip. The phantom heart in her hand distorted again, and Hel was slammed by a fresh wave of searing pain—so intense it nearly knocked him unconscious.
This lunatic...
Hel stared daggers at the woman before him, eyes burning with rage.
Damn it, this really was the highest difficulty mode. Not even out of the noob zone and he's already run into the final boss?!
What the hell is this—Dark Souls?!
[Name]: Youming [Power Level]: Tier 4 — Archmage, 7-star[Attributes]: Strength 6, Magic 249, Knowledge 16 [Tags]: [Death Sovereign (Pink)], [Death Witch (Red)], Click to expand...
She was a Tier 4 powerhouse with stacked stats and absurdly rare high-level tags.
Meanwhile, Hel? A barely-beyond-novice Tier 1 mage.
How was he supposed to fight that?!
Sure, he had a cheat, but even cheat users needed time to level up, right?
And here she was—no warning, no buildup, just throwing him into a boss fight and slapping him around.
This wasn't fair.
She wanted to hear him scream?
Too bad. Not gonna happen.
Hel gritted his teeth, refusing to give her the satisfaction. At the same time, he forced himself to stay calm, desperately searching for a way to turn the tables.
His first thought, of course, was his cheat—the Tag System. He activated it with a mental command and pulled up Youming's detailed tag data.
[Death Sovereign (Pink)]:A fragment of a divine death authority. Grants the bearer control over death laws and allows the condensation of a divine core to ascend into a demigod.Immune to death, soul, and curse-type attacks from the death domain (not including divine attacks), and reflects them with 100x intensity.
[Death Witch (Red)]:+200% to magic power, +130 to charm. A prophesied child who has stolen a divine fragment. Her soul is capable of hosting it without being annihilated.
[Undead King (Red)]: ... (data hidden)
Wait—this is it.
Hel's original plan was to steal one of her spell-related tags so he could go head-to-head with her in melee.
But this… this was better than expected.
What would happen if she lost the "Death Witch" tag?
That tag was what protected her soul from being annihilated by the death fragment she hosted.
Without it…
Would her soul be destroyed?
But then again—how long would that process take?
If it wasn't immediate, she could still kill him a hundred times over before it mattered.
Still… maybe melee was the better bet?
Hel glanced at his pathetic Strength stat: 3. Yeah… forget it.
She had double his strength, and she wasn't even a warrior. There was no way he could win in close combat.
No choice but to gamble. He only had one unrestricted tag-plunder chance left. He had to make it count.
"You know," Youming mused, watching him squirm, "what kind of undead should I turn you into? A ghoul?"
"Hmm… no, too smelly. A lich? No, your talent's too poor." "How about a vampire? Fast regeneration. No matter how I play with you, you won't break too easily."
She clapped her hands lightly, dispersing the phantom heart and preparing to stand up.
"Rose, come in for a moment," she called, glancing toward the dungeon door, as if waiting for someone.
Now's my chance.
Hel's eyes lit up. A strength difference of just 3 points—if he struck first, he might land a surprise hit.
He didn't hesitate. He lunged and grabbed her leg.
But right away, something felt… wrong.
Wait, what the hell kind of tights are this thick?! Feels like she's wearing long johns under there!
At that moment, Youming realized what was happening. The brat had grabbed her leg.
Panic flickered in her eyes.
Even with her high-tier tags, her physical strength was only equal to that of a strong adult male.
She'd underestimated him—assumed the kid was no threat and had let her guard down.
But now she was alert.
Even if he was just a 12-year-old child, he might have tricks up his sleeve.
Quick to act, she raised her delicate hand and launched a black energy orb at Hel.
A low-tier magic spell—Energy Ball.
But from someone of her level, even that could seriously injure him.
Hel, meanwhile, knew the window was closing. She'd been vulnerable because she hadn't bothered to cast any defensive spells earlier.
Now, she was on guard. He had one shot.
With no hesitation, he bit down on her leg through the stockings.
Hard.
"If physical contact is all it takes, then teeth count too!"
His canine teeth easily tore through the fabric and pierced her skin.
[Target touched][Unlimited Plunder -1][Tag: Death Witch (Red) — Plunder successful][Installing into empty tag slot…][Detected…]
At that same moment, Youming's magic orb struck Hel's abdomen. BOOM—
Hel flew backward several meters, crashing hard into the dungeon wall.
For a long moment, he just lay there, barely managing to sit up as blood poured from his mouth.
"You naughty little stray cat…" Youming turned her gaze toward him, her face darkening.
She—an Archmage, the Death Witch—had just been bitten by a fledgling mage.
Even if it was a sneak attack, it was an insult.
But before she could even finish her sentence…
A terrifying pressure suddenly exploded from within her body. Dark, evil death energy rampaged wildly inside her.
This was the death fragment that had once been her greatest resource—refined by her "Death Witch" tag.
But now? Without the tag?
Backlash.
Her body could no longer contain that power. Her skin began to crack, her soul trembled under the crushing divine force.
What little sanity she had left, she used to glare at Hel in pure rage.
"What the hell did you do?!"
Her beauty vanished in an instant. Wreathed in death energy, she looked more like a vengeful ghost than a witch.
Screaming, she lunged at Hel, hands gripping his throat, trying to choke the life out of him.
But the backlash from the divine fragment was far more severe than Hel had anticipated.
In the blink of an eye, Youming began to wither.
Her once-smooth skin shriveled, her strength weakened, and the pressure on Hel's throat gradually eased.
"Die… you little…"
Even so, she poured all her remaining strength into her hands, desperate to strangle him to death.
If she could still use magic, she would've blasted him with a death spell point-blank.
But the fragment wouldn't allow it.
As the divine backlash ravaged her body, her youth faded rapidly. Her limbs cracked and crumbled, pink hair fell from her head—only to turn to dust mid-air.
Then, before his eyes, her entire body began to disintegrate, vanishing into ash.
[Target Youming eliminated][Auto-pickup initiated][Tag: Death Sovereign (Pink) — Acquired][Installed into available slot][Tag: Undead King (Red) — Acquired][Installed into available slot][Tag: Death Magic Affinity (Gold)] — Detected…[Analyzing…]